Ash-sifting shovel.



W. J. DAVIDSON.'

ASH SIFTING SHOVEL.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23, I9I5.

MIL

W. J. DAWDSON.

ASH SIFTING SHOVEL.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.23, I9I5. l

L. Patened Dec. 28, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

binnenin saar ASH-SIFTING SI-IDVEL.

strengere,

Speecaton of Letters Patent.v

Patented Dec.i 28, 11915.

Application filed February 23, 1915. Serial No. lO,C98.`

To all whom z' may concern Be ,it known that I, WILLIAM JAMES DAVIDSON, a citizen of the Dominion of Canada, residing at the city of' Winnipeg, Province of Manitoba, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ash-Sifting Shovels, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to shovels having a screen portion and other features particu# larly adapting them for use in connection with the ordinary household furnace, to separate the unburned portions of the fuel from the ashes, and without setting free the usual cloud of dust incidental to this operation.

The objects of the invention are first, to provide a device of the hind described which shall have the appearance of an ordinary shovel and be handled in the same manner; second, to provide a device which may be pushed into the ashes in the furnace pit in the manner of a shovel, but which immediately thereafter becomes a sifting box having means to prevent escape of the material under treatment; third, to provide means to prevent the material in the shovel from dashing out over the top at the rear; fourth, to provide means whereby the vsifting operation is assisted by Contact of the sifter with the furnace. The means by which these objects are attained will be found described in the following specifica.-I

tion, particularly pointed out in the claims, and fully illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l 'is a side view of a furnace, the wall being broken away to show the interior of the ash pit, and the shovel therein in two positions. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the shovel complete. Fig. is a sectional view on the line A in Fig. 2. Fig. t is a face view of the gate situate at the front of the shovel. Fig. 5 is a yside view of Fig. 4.

6 is a front view ol' a slightly different style of gate. Fig. 7 r a side view of Fig. G.

Figs. S` 9, l0 and 11 show a variety of means on the handle of the shovel by which a jarring cont-act might be made with the fur nace to assist in the sifting operation.

Referring to the drawings in which simi lar characters of reference indicate similar adapted to support the sides z2 and 3, thebottom fland rear end 5, which are preferably all ot woven wire ot suitable mesh to ,effect the desired separation between the ashes and cinders. rlhe lower frame members 6 and 7 may turn up at the rear to meet the upper side members 8 and 9 and be joined thereto, thence running to the center and again outward to form the outer layers l0 and ll of the handle C, the end of which may be turned as at l2 to form a cross bar or grip.

A central frame member 13, of greater width than thickness, passes along` below the bottom ll from front to rear thereof, thence passing up the back 5 to the top thereof where vit is twisted edge upward at 14C and turned to conform to the general direction of the handle C of which it forms a part as the spacing member l5 between the layers 10 and ll thereof. ln the particular construction under description the member l5 is hinled upward to form the protuberances 16 and 17 on the upper side of the handle C for a purpose described hereinafter.

At the front of the shovel is a lip 18 preferably folded as shown (Fig. 3l to embrace the upper and lower surfaces of the bottom l and form ay forward shovel edge which may be pushed into the ashes without resistance, the lip being secured to bottom and sides by rivets or other suitable means. The rear upper edge of the lip 18 may be rolled bach to form the apertured members 1) adapted to interchange with the similarly formed members :20. on the gate D, a pintle passing through the menibcrs on the gate and lip to form a hinge connection therebetween. The gate D is further provided with the rearward projections Il which operate to prevent. the gate from falling down forwardly but do not prevent it from falling in the opposite direction. The shovel may also be provided with a hood E covering the upper rearward portion of the body B to prevent overflow of the material therein duringthe sifting operation.

The shovel is intended to be used in connection with any furnace of ordinary construction having the usual ash pit below the fire grate and a door-opening thereinto. In operation the drafts of the furnace are first turne'd on and the shovel inserted into the ash pit as shown in the position X in Fig. 1, that is to say, it is pushed under the ashes as though it were a shovel of the ordinary type, the gate D lying down on the bottom of the shovel and offering noire` sistance to the ashes. load is then lifted to the position shown as Y, with the knobs.16 and 17 positioned on each side of the front plate 22 of the door opening of the furnace F. rIhe shovel is then given a sifting motion back and forth, the knobs 16 and 17 alternately coming into contact with the plate 22 of the furnace and adding a jarring effect which greatly assiste in the sifting. When the shovel was loaded.J4 it will be noted that the gate D was lyingl down rearwardly fas in Fig. 2, but at the rst movement toward sifting, the ashes in `the shovel forced it up into the position indicated by the dotted lines D2 in the different figures, which is a little past the upright, in which Vposition it operates to prevent the material in the shovel from being thrown out lover the front during sifting. The hood E performs a similarly useful function at the rear. The working of the gate D it will be understood, is qulte automatic, and requires no adjustment or attention.

It is preferable that the knobs 16 and 17 be placed upon the handle C but it is possible to place them at other points in the structure, as for instance on the sides of the bodyB, as indicated by the dotted lines 16a and 17el in Fig. 2. Also the effect of the knobs maybe obtained by othermeans than those shown, as for instance by removing a portion of the handle as in Fig. 8, leaving l the shoulders 23 and 24 to perform the functions of the knobs; or the handle may be bent as in Fig. 1 0 to obtainthe same result. Fig. ll representsv a plate 25,.having the knobs 16 and 17 formed thereon and which may be secured to a handle of wood by the screw nails 26 and 27.

In Fig. 9 a form of handle is shown in which only one jarring -member 28 is used.

This would assist the sifting to a certain extent but would not be equal in convenience or effect to Vthe double knobs prev1ously del scribed.

An open mesh gate D3 is shown in Figs.

6 and 7, which does not differ in function from the gate shown and described in Fig. 4, save that it adds to the sifting capacity of the device and could -be secured to the bottom 4 bya wire loop passed through the 'coils 29 at each Side of the gate.

From the foregoing description-it willbe seen that I have produced a device havwith the functions The shovel with its.

kbars shaped to form ing the `handiness of a shovel combined other features serving to maintain the material in the sieve during treatment, with the further advantages that the sifting is carried on within the ash pit of the furnace wherethe upward draft serves 'to prej pe of the' dust necessarily crevent the esca ated by a sifting operation.

Having thus fully described my said vention what I claim as mine"is;-

1. A sifting shovel adapted to be used in the ash pit of a furnace, said shovel comprising a body having a screen portion and a handle and means adapted to engage the front of the furnace to jar the shovel.

2. A sifting shovel adapted to be used in the ash pit of a furnace, said shovel having a screen portion in the body thereof, and a handle and means on the handle `to en gage thev front' of the furnace to jar the shovel.

3.' A sifting shovel adapted for use in the ash pit of a lfurnace said shovel having a screen portion and a handle and means on the handle to jar the shovel, said means comprising a pair of projecting members spaced apart and positionedl to alternately engage the front plate of the furnace on the opposite sides thereof as the shovel is reciprocated. I

4. A sifting shovel adapted `for use in the ash pit of a. furnace, said shovel having a screen portion and ahandle, projections on the handle adapted to engage the front,y plate of the furnace and assist the sifting, and means at the mouthof the shovel adapted to allow .unobstructed ingress of material to the shovel and adjustable to prevent egress of unsifted material.

5. A sifting shovel adaptedl for use in the ash pit of a furnace,

.nace and jar rthe shovel and means'inthe mouth of the shovel adapted to allow in .gress of material tothe shovel but to prevent `egress of unsifted material therefrom.

7. Anash sifter comprising a skeleton frame shaped to form a shovel having a perforate covering and a handle provided with projections on its upper side adapted to alternately engage the front ofthe vfurnace as the shovel is reciprocated in the ash pit thereof. v

8. An ash, sifter ycomprising a skeleton frame formed from comparatively .narrow a shovel having a screen fabric covering and a lip, the upper side bars of the frame being turned toward said shovel having a screen portion, a hood, a handle and means engagethe front of the of a sieve and having the ss v los

:lasV

menare y a each other at the back thereof, then extended rearwardly in spaced relation to each other to form a handle, and the medial bot tom member of the frame being turned upwardly at the rear thereof then outwardlyr to occupy the space between the outer members of the handle and being provided with shovel reeprocated in the ash pit thereof. 10

In testimony whereof, I alix my signature.

WILLAM JAMES DAVIDSON. 

